Week #16: Rollergirls

I always wanted to make it to the Derby, but I assumed it would be of the Kentucky variety. Yet this week, I found myself at a Roller Derby competition. I went with a good friend of mine who attended one of their matches last year. He and I were surprised by how many people were there. We should have known this was coming when we stopped at a restaurant fifteen minutes away and saw a couple of guys with "Brew City Bruisers" t-shirts on. I couldn't believe how many people were into this.

All of the seats were taken when we arrived, so we did the "standing room only" option. I had to learn some of the rules of the game: 5 players each side, 1 jammer (who scores all the points), and 1 pivot. They skate around a flat track and score points whenever the jammer passes someone from the opposing team. We struck up a conversation with a very nice woman. She happened to be the mother of two of the skaters. I got the back story on why one daughter went by the name of "Milwaukee's Breast". Apparently, she wanted to be called Milwaukee's Beast but the local paper misspelled her name to be breast instead of beast, so she decided to run with it. Good choice. Her other daughter goes by the name " The Other White Meat" and I questioned what does the family call her on Thanksgiving. The comment surprisingly fell flat. Overall, the women were very athletic and put on an entertaining show.

The Rushin' Rollettes ran right over the Shevil Knevils in the first match. The next few games were much closer. The women gave themselves great names. In the pictures above, I am being given a headlock by "Servin' Justice", had an awkward moment with "The Sea Hag", an interesting moment with the woman (?) in red, and got angry with the "Termiskater". After the Derby we had a great talk with Servin' Justice and Termiskater. In fact, Termiskater invited us to the "after party" when they closed down. As fun as that sounded, we had to be on our way and sadly had to decline the invitation. All and all, it was a fun night and I recommend anyone to give the Roller Derby a try. For those of you who do, here are the official fan rules (from the program) ... 1) No spitting on anyone you're not related to 2)No swearing around kids or old people 3) Wear deodorant at all times 4) No dying in the stands during a bout. How can anyone go wrong by following these practical simple rules? You can't! Mark your calenders for when the next Roller Derby event is in town.